How to Win Friends With Influencer People
Every week, The Friendship Files features a conversation between The Atlantic’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship.
This week she talks with two lifestyle bloggers and influencers—though they don’t necessarily love that word—about balancing work and friendship in an industry where your personal life is always on display.
The Friends:
Grace Atwood, 37, runs the lifestyle blog The Stripe and co-hosts the podcast Bad on Paper. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Krystal Bick, 33, runs the lifestyle blog This Time Tomorrow. She lives in Manhattan, New York.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Julie Beck: What led you guys to blogging, and what were your visions for your sites at the beginning?
Grace Atwood: I was really unhappy. I was a marketing manager for a big beauty company, and I thought I had my dream job. I had my own office, I was being paid very well, but [the job] sucked all the life out of me. So I was like, You know what, I’m going to set up a little site where I can put things that I like. Every night, almost like a journal, I’d write for 30 minutes. “These are the things I like right now.” I’d make a little graphic in Microsoft Paint, which was really professional.
Then I started doing these do-it-yourself projects. I would see a Dannijo necklace, or some high-end costume jewelry, and be like, Why is that $700? I. It was budget, but it was fun.
